The Huguang Guild Hall, located in East Shuimen Street in Chongqing was first built in 1759 during the reign of Emperor Qinglong of the Qing Dynasty and the extended 100 years later. The site now covers 8500 square kilometres with many halls such as the Guangdong Hall, Jiangnan Hall, Lianghu Hall, Jiangxi Hall and 4 towers for opera shows. The wooden building walls, doors and windows are skillfully carved with human figures, animals and plants.
These halls were originally built for migrants from the Huanguan Areas - today's Hunan, Hubei, Guangdong and Guangxi Provinces. During the late Ming Dynasty and early Qing Dynasty, the population in Sichuan declined dramatically and people from the Hu and Guang areas were ordered go there and cultivate the land. This started the famous Huguang Filling up Sichuan Movement.
The Yuwang Temple in the halls is where local farmers prayed for good harvest. The temple was first erected around the time of the great Huguang Filling up Sichuan Movement and then touched up a few times in the years after that. But the temple has pretty much remained intact and unaltered for over 100 years.
The four towers hold daily local performances a such as the famous Magical Face Changes of SiChuan Opera.
